Councilwoman Ware denies illegal conduct in county clerk scandal

Barbara Swearengen Ware reads a prepared statement to the press addressing her name being mentioned as part of a criminal investigation linked to the County Clerk's Office.

Memphis City Councilwoman Barbara Swearengen Ware, with husband Albert Walker Ware by her side, reads a prepared statement on Monday about her alleged involvement in a bribery scandal at the Shelby County Clerk's office. She refused to answer questions.

Stan Carroll/The Commercial Appeal

Memphis City Councilwoman Barbara Swearengen Ware broke her silence Monday about her alleged involvement in a bribery scandal at the Shelby County Clerk's office, saying she would never do anything knowingly to dishonor God or her constituents.

"Throughout my private and public life, I have tried to be fair and honest in all of my dealings," said Ware.

"I want to emphatically and unambiguously state that I have never bribed anyone or knowingly participated in any conduct that violated the laws of this state or this great nation," she said during a press conference in which she read a prepared statement and refused to answer questions.

Ware said she found the allegations, which she said she learned from the media while in the hospital, "immensely disconcerting" and denied any illegal conduct.

Ware, who has not been charged, checked into the hospital just before her name surfaced in grand jury indictments of eight county auto-title clerks charged with bribery. She had maintained a low-profile until Monday.

The District 7 councilwoman was named repeatedly as having paid unspecified amounts of money to three of the clerks to illegally get automobiles registered.

Ware, with her husband, Albert Walker Ware, standing by her side and a handful of supporters in the room, said Monday she knows some of the employees implicated in the scandal.

"I am praying for them and wish them well in their time of trouble and I urge the public to not rush to judgment," she said.

In all, 14 county clerk employees have been implicated and seven either resigned or were fired. Asked about Ware, Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons declined comment, saying only that the case is ongoing.

Deputy County Atty. Danny Presley, who conducted an administrative investigation, said a "pervasive culture of political and familial entitlement existed" at the county clerk's office.

If indicted for her alleged involvement in the growing scandal, it isn't clear if Ware, who was elected in 1994, would lose her City Council seat.

A referendum approved by voters last year said officials would be suspended with pay if they were indicted for "official malfeasance," which attorneys have interpreted as meaning acting in their role as legislators.

However, the city's ethics ordinance says council members and other city officials can't use their positions to "secure any privilege or exemption."

Council chairman Myron Lowery said he will let the criminal investigation proceed before he refers Ware's possible involvement in the county clerk scandal to the city's chief ethics officer, City Atty. Elbert Jefferson.

"I will let the investigation play out," Lowery said. "If it progresses to another point, then yes, I will be talking to the city attorney."

If a criminal case against Ware moves forward and the seven-member city ethics board finds that Ware violated policy, she could be fined $50 per offense. The ethics board could also recommend that Ware be censured, suspended or removed from office.

This isn't the first time questions have swirled around Ware.

The councilwoman once admitted to accepting free tickets more than once from developer Rusty Hyneman, who often had high-profile projects before the council. Ware said she took the tickets from Hyneman because he was "just a nice guy."

On Monday, Ware described herself as a "committed woman of God" who operates with "honesty, dignity and integrity."